Hamid Karzai is betraying his word to the USA and its coalition. He is allowing his own people to be used as human shields.

The sooner General McCrystal's forces are allowed to secure the town and encourage citizens to return the sooner the refugee camps will empty. People need to move from the area, allow the coalition to clean up the town and THEN monitor the return of 'peaceful citizens' to the cities.

Short of WANTING to maintain the corruption, I don't know why President Karzai isn't speaking effectively to the people. I thought we were partners. This should be a fairly straight forward and simple mission, not one of suicidal ideation.

As Afghan assault looms, many civilians haven't fled (click title to entry - thank you)

By SAEED SHAH
McClatchy Newspapers
KABUL -- As U.S.-led coalition troops prepare for a long-awaited offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, few civilians have managed to escape the town at the center of the operation, raising the risk of civilian casualties that could undermine the Obama administration's military strategy for the country.

The U.S.-led force said Tuesday that fewer than 200 families - around 1,200 people - had left the town of Marjah and the surrounding area, which have a population of about 80,000.
"Commanders in the area are reporting no significant increase in persons moving out of Nad-e Ali district in the last month," the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. "Despite reports of large numbers of civilians fleeing the area, the facts on the ground do not support these assertions."
Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan soldiers are poised to push into the area, with preliminary operations reported to have begun late Tuesday. Afghan police will accompany the soldiers in an effort to establish law and order quickly....